CIMB was among the top gainers on Thursday, up 17 sen to RM4.88, pushing the KLCI up 2.5pts
The broader market showed marked improvement as advancers beat decliners 726 to 206 while 222 counters were unchanged.
Reuters reported stocks rose around the world on Thursday, following the biggest gains on Wall Street in four years, after a US Federal Reserve policymaker said the case for an interest rate increase next month "seems less compelling" than it was a few weeks ago. Increased appetite for risk also lifted crude oil prices further from last week's lows.
The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar to 4.2318 from the 4.2460 the previous day. The local unit also firmed up against the pound sterling to 6.5521 versus 6.6536 and against the Singapore dollar, it advanced to 3.0213 from 3.0291.
At Bursa Malaysia, market sentiment was firmer and even AirAsia, which was battered in recent days to fresh all-time lows, struck back and ended Thursday up 10.5 sen to 88.5 sen in very active trade.
Consumer stocks closed higher, with BAT up RM1.60 to RM61.60, Carlsberg 64 sen to RM11.80 and Nestle 58 sen to RM72.18.
Stars of the day were the banks. RHB Cap rose 28 sen to RM6.44, Public Bank 18 sen to RM18.02, CIMB 17 sen to RM4.88 and Maybank 15 sen to RM8.65 while Hong Leong Bank added 12 sen to RM13.04. CIMB and RHB Cap will release their results on Friday.
Tenaga rose 18 sen to RM11.20 while MISC added seven sen to RM8.12 and Genting Bhd
five sen to RM6.69.
As for telcos, Maxis rose 16 sen to RM6.62, DiGi and TM two sen higher at RM5.22 and RM6.50 but Axiata shed one sen to RM6.14.
Plantations were mixed with PPB Group surging 24 sen to RM15.26, IOI Corp three sen to RM3.99, while Sime Darby and KL Kepong were flat at RM7.45 and RM20.80. Far East fell the most, down 20 sen to RM7.50.
MAHB lost 21 sen to RM4.22 and Top Glove 16 sen to RM7.77.
Among the key regional markets,
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.08% to 18,574.44;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 3.6% to 21,838.54;
CSI 300 surged 5.95% to 3,205.64;
Shanghai’s Composite Index also surged 5.34% to 3,083.59;
Shenzen Composite rose 3.33% to 1,752.21;
Hang Seng China Enterprise advanced 4.62% to 9,863.61;
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.41% to 7,824.55;
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.73% to 1,908.00 and
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 2.52% to 2,945.43.
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